Chapter 250 Finding Jobs
The warm summer breeze stirred the bamboo shadows falling on the long desk in the East Palace. Qi Jun rubbed his wrists, which ached from constantly reviewing memorials, and looked up to see Sun Miao preparing to enter.
"What is it?"
Sun Miao smiled somewhat awkwardly: "Your Highness, the Eldest Princess has arrived. She said you left something at her residence and came personally to deliver it. It's just..."
The Crown Prince had already stood up and walked around the long table to leave: "Speak your mind directly, don't beat around the bush."
"The princess doesn't seem very happy. Your Highness, if you really want to see her, please be very careful."
Sun Miao then saw the Crown Prince pause, take two steps, and then reply with a "Yes, I understand," before striding forward.
The eldest princess and the crown prince were talking in the hall, while Sun Miao stood at the door waiting. There was no movement inside, and he became somewhat anxious.
Just now he said that the eldest princess was not happy about this, but that was just a euphemism. In reality, the eldest princess arrived at the East Palace in her official robes and a blue phoenix crown, looking frightening and speaking with a fierce tone, as if she would slaughter the entire East Palace if she could not see the crown prince.
Sun Miao had been in the palace for more than ten years and had never seen the Princess so angry.
And judging from this anger, it's directed at the Crown Prince.
But when has the Crown Prince ever offended the Eldest Princess?
Just as Sun Miao was racking his brains trying to figure it out, a crisp sound of porcelain falling to the ground suddenly came from inside.
The voice was loud and urgent, which startled Sun Miao so much that he trembled all over. He almost pressed his ears to the door, concentrating intently, his heart in his throat, just waiting to be called in.
The Crown Prince's restrained voice rang out: "Aunt's reprimand is correct, nephew understands."
"Keep this jade hairpin safe. My Yuxuan is not fortunate enough to enter the palace and enjoy any extravagant wealth. If you truly love and cherish her, you should understand what kind of life is best for her. Besides, you are the Crown Prince. When you ascend the throne, you will have the entire harem at your disposal. How many beauties and concubines could you not find? Why make things difficult for us, an orphan and a widow?"
After hearing the princess's words, Sun Miao broke out in a cold sweat. Such sharp and sarcastic remarks were hardly the words of the princess who had treated the crown prince like her own son since childhood.
Hearing her say that Princess Chang Le was not fortunate enough to enter the palace, Sun Miao had already pieced together the truth, and his heart pounded like a drum.
Has the Crown Prince already expressed his feelings and wants to marry Princess Chang Le as his Crown Princess?
In fact, more than half a year ago, the Emperor and Empress had summoned him several times to ask if there were any palace maids or noble ladies in the Eastern Palace or around the Crown Prince that the Crown Prince cared about, so that the Crown Prince could take in a few beautiful and considerate concubines. If Sun Miao had not been repeatedly ordered by the Crown Prince not to reveal anything about him and Princess Chang Le, he would have told them everything.
As a servant, he was adept at reading people's expressions and moods, so how could he not know what the Crown Prince was thinking?
Judging from the looks of it, the eldest princess's heart is now completely devoted to Princess Chang Le, and the crown prince is not getting any benefit at all.
The eldest princess gave the crown prince another stern lecture. Hearing that the prince was about to come out, Sun Miao quickly stood up straight, lowering his head and waiting for his master inside to call him.
Qi Yuxuan knew nothing about what had happened in the Eastern Palace. She had been busy these past two days investigating who the owner of Xiangqi Fang was, and she was extremely stressed.
Most of the prime shops in the capital are in the hands of the powerful and wealthy. After all, those shops with good locations and decorations are not something ordinary people can afford. Xiangqifang has a good location, located on Zhuque Street, and is the most sought-after waterfront shop in the south of the city. The backyard can be used for business on boats, and the front yard can be used for normal sales. It can be said that a single shop can earn double the profit.
The eldest princess was puzzled when she learned that she wanted to investigate a small perfume shop.
“That shop is small. It used to be a wine shop, and it was sold after a fire. I suppose even wealthy and powerful families would consider it unlucky and wouldn’t be willing to buy it, even if they had the money. If you want to do business, I have a few shops on Zhuque Street. You can take them and play with them.”
The princess's first thought was that she wanted to buy the perfume shop, so she waved her hand and gave her two land deeds in a location even better than Xiangqifang.
Qi Yuxuan didn't directly state her guess, but instead handed the booklet containing the records of the Pei family grandfather and grandson to the eldest princess.
“Mother, look, I went to Xiangqifang a few times before and found some things, so I asked the Pei family to investigate them. I didn’t expect them to find this.”
Since the Pei family came to the Princess's residence with their daughter, the Princess naturally didn't need them to worry about her. She could focus on taking care of her daughter and handling other matters. The Princess knew that not long ago, she had asked the Pei family's young lady to help make her daughter happy.
The booklet was small and thin. The princess took it, flipped through two pages, and immediately understood the key information.
The handwriting was still somewhat immature, which showed that it was written by Pei Xing'er. The more the princess read, the deeper her brows furrowed. By the end, she slammed the booklet on the table.
"This thing must not remain in the State of Qi."
Clearly, both mother and daughter were aware of the potential dangers of the powder, and they should eradicate it completely before things escalated, thus preventing any future problems.
"We mustn't alert them. This might be a conspiracy by the Jiaozhi or some other neighboring country. Good boy, thank goodness for you... You can command the guards in the manor, those are the ones in the open. I also have a private army that no one knows about, which you can also use..."
Upon hearing the princess's words, Qi Yuxuan's eyes widened.
Private soldiers? If the Emperor discovers this, they could be accused of treason and punished!
Noticing her concerns, the princess flicked her smooth forehead.
"No one knows except His Majesty and you, so you can rest assured now!"
Qi Yuxuan covered her head and smiled.
She took the princess's arm and said softly, "Mother, after I secretly find out some things with my men, you can personally write a memorial and submit it to the palace, okay?"
The eldest princess was somewhat reluctant, but forcefully pulled her hand away from her bosom:
"Look at all the chores you've done for me in the past year or so. I'm so old and I'm still being ordered around to write a bunch of memorials. Now that you have a title and a high position, you can write your own memorials and submit them. Your mother is going to enjoy her old age and won't help you anymore."
"Mother……"
Qi Yuxuan blinked her round, bright eyes, but the princess turned her head away and snorted, "Write it yourself."
With the princess's full support, things became much easier.
The mastermind behind it all was cautious; it took Qi Yuxuan three days to finally discover a clue.
"This land deed was mortgaged by a gambler who was blinded by greed to pay off his debts. The original owner's wife was skilled at making face powder and cosmetics. She originally planned to open a cosmetics shop. All the raw materials and bottles were prepared and placed in the backyard of the shop. However, her husband took it to pay off his debts, and all the things were left in the shop. Now the owner thinks that doing this business is not bad, so he continues to make and sell cosmetics using all the raw materials left behind."
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